The Value Sovereignty Research Programme: Testing Mineral Value Capture Across African Regional Blocs (Comparative Design)

Overview: Following the theoretical formulation of the Value Sovereignty framework (Musiiwa, 2026; DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21604818), this document details the methodological design for a four-case comparative research programme.    Comparative Architecture: To evaluate the theoretical reach and robustness of the framework beyond its initial Zimbabwe/lithium anchor, this programme employs a most-different-systems design across two regional blocs (SADC and ECOWAS) and four critical mineral commodities:    Botswana (Diamonds / SADC): Testing value sovereignty as a policy choice distinct from institutional quality.    Democratic Republic of the Congo (Cobalt / SADC): Evaluating the framework’s diagnostic ability in weak-state and value-loss settings.    Nigeria (Oil / ECOWAS): Examining 'agency over fatalism' in classic resource-curse and refining contexts.    Ghana (Gold / ECOWAS): Observing the 'strategic hedge' and regional market dynamics in real time.    Purpose: Serves as the overarching research design and chapter blueprint for TGRI Press's forthcoming Volume I (Finish What We Dig)